Ava DuVernay’s ’13th’ Nominated for Peabody Award

The finalists for the 76th Annual Peabody Awards, the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors were recently announced and, Ava DuVernay’s Oscar-nominated documentary on the prison-industrial complex 13th was included in the list.

13th traces the history from the US constitution’s 13th amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, to 2016, where one-in-three black American males can expect to be imprisoned during his lifetime. It explores racial imbalances in the criminal justice system, and features appearances from author Michelle Alexander, activist Angela Davis, and Senator Cory Booker, among others. At it’s core, this powerful film charts the path that shows the audience how history has been repeating itself from the Jim Crow era to the present.

The film, which premiered theatrically and currently streams on Netflix, became the first documentary in history to open the New York Film Festival, and won a Critics Choice Documentary Award for Best Director, Best Documentary Feature (in the TV/Streaming category), and Best Political Documentary, and also won a BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.

In addition to DuVernay’s 13th, Beyoncé’s visual album “Lemonade,” and MAVIS!, the Mavis Staples documentary are also finalists.

The full list of finalists represents the 60 finalists that represent the most compelling and empowering stories released in electronic media during 2016. Over the next several weeks, the awards organizers will narrow down the list to 30 winning programs. Peabody Award winners and finalists will be celebrated at a gala event on May 20 in New York. The event will be taped for a television special to air on both PBS and Fusion networks on June 2 at 9 p.m/8c. Rashida Jones, a previous Peabody winner for “Parks and Recreation” and current star of “Angie Tribeca,” will be the host.

Check out the complete list of finalists below!

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMING

“Ask the Storybots” JibJab Bros. Studios (Netflix)

“Tumble Leaf” Amazon Studios and Bix Pix Entertainment (Amazon)

DOCUMENTARY

“A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness” HBO Documentary Films and SOC Films (HBO)

“Cleverman”
Goalpost Pictures and Pukeko Pictures for ABC-TV Australia in co-production with SundanceTV and Red Arrow International, with the assistance of Screen Australia, Screen NSW and The New Zealand Screen Production Grant (SundanceTV)

About The Author

Tonja Renée Stidhum is a screenwriter/director with cheeks you want to pinch... but don't (unless she wants you to). She is made of sugar and spice and everything rice... with the uncanny ability to make a Disney/Pixar reference in the same sentence as a double entendre.